Toy blocks



l 5MM,

UNION coLgEGE..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

S. L. HILL, OF WILLIAMSBURG, NEW YORK.

TOY BLOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 51,720, dated December26, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itl known that I, S. L. HILL, of Williamsburg, in the county of Kingsand State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Building-Block;and I do hereby decla-re that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, which will enable others skilled iii the art tomake and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings,forming part ot' this specification, iii which- Figure l represents anend view of the village school77 built up by means ofi my blocks. Fig. 2is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is an end view of the unioncollege77 built up by means of my blocks. Figs. 4 to 9 are detachedviews ofthe several blocks. Fig. l0 is a transverse vertical section ot'the root'.

Similar letters of reference indica-te like parts.

'lhis invention consists in the employment or use of a series ot'building-blocks, which are marked on one side with parts of the outsideot' one and on the opposite side with parts of the surface of anotherbuilding, in such a maniier that by turning the corresponding sides ofall the blocks out and placing them together in the proper order twodifferent buildings can be produced by. the same series of blocks.

In order to facilitate the operation of putting up the two buildings,the two sides of the blocks may be distinguished by dil'erent colors.rlhe root' is composed of two triangular pieces and two boards, whichlatter are held iii their places by horizontal grooves catching overdowels which project from the edges of triangular pieces, so that whensaid boards are put on they can be readily adjusted longitudinallywithout sliding ott'.

A represents a sei-ies of bnlding=blocks, one of which is shown detachedin Figs. 4, 5, and 6. Fig. 4 shows one and Fig. 6 the other side of thesaine block, and Fig. 5 is a transverse section ofthe saine. Its twosides are marked with parts of the surface of different buildings, andthey may be distinguished by dit'- ferent colors. All the blocks aremarked in the same manner, with parts ofthe surface of one building onone and with parts of another building on the other side, and by turningthe corresponding sides of the blocks out t and placing them in theproper order a village school can be built, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,or by turning the opposite side of the blocks out and putting themtogether in the requisite order the nnioii college, Fig. 3, is produced.

rlhe foundation-blocks B (shown detached in Figs. 7, S, and 9) aremarked on the `opposite sides with different letters ofthe alphabet,showing that all schools and colleges are based on the alphabet. 1fdesired, those blocks may be left blank7 or they may also be marked withparts of the surface of the buildings-for instance, withbasemeiit-windows.

The root' is composed of two triangular pieces, O, which are placed withtheir bases on the end walls, and from the inclined edge of whichproject two dowels, a a., one on either side, which catch intohorizontal grooves b cut in the under surface of the boards D. Theseboards linish the root', and their surface may be flat or molded, toimitate a tile, slate, or shingle root', as may be desired. By means ot'the grooves b these boards, after having been put on, can be readilyadjusted iii a horizontal direction until they are in the properposition in relation to the building.

If it is desired, the several sides might be marked with the saine partsof the surface of a building and distinguished by different eolors, andin this case different buildings of the same appearance might beproduced with the blocks distinguished only by their color.

l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The employmentor use ot' a series of building-blocks marked on dii'e. ent sides withthe parts of the surface ot' different buildings, substantiallyas andfor the purpose described. 2. The longitudinal grooves b in the boardsD, to operate in combination with the dowels a in the edges of thetriangular pieces O, substaiiti'all y as and for the purpose set torth.

3. The use of building-blocks having marked on their different sidesparts of the same or of different buildings, the various sides beingdistinguished by different colors, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

S. L. HILL.

Witnesses:

W. HAUEF, M. M. LIViNGsToN.

